help!!! (!) Am off to Bamburgh, northumberland with 2.6yr old and 6m old, any recommendations for days out / stuff to do?

[yousaidit]

days at the beach, alnwick is nice (thats got the little second hand bookshop i think) but anyne recommend anything?

cheers!

Bump?

Will you have car? Loads to do in Northumberland and Newcastle.
www.kidsnewcastle.co.uk/ may have some ideas.
There was a recent thread about his... hang on will try to find.

here it is

Alnwick castle of course and the Duchess of Northumberland gardens are great - both pricey but really worth the money for little kids (mazes, fountains, dressing up in the castle etc..) WE bought a five day ticket I think and just kept going back to see more!

Bamburgh itself is fab, castle is good and tbh we spent most of our time there on the beach. Will try and remember what else we did.

Warkworth castle was great when I was a kid - and the beaches up there are fabulous even if the sea is freezing. Loads of rock pools, sand, dunes etc.

If you collect Tesco Vouchers you can use them for Alnwick Castle. There is a Honey Farm near Berwick on Tweed and there is a cafe in a double decker bus there. We took our grandchildren and they loved it. There is also a Steam Railway nearby. The beach at Bamburgh is lovely with rock pools if the tide it out. Have a good time.

Seahouses has a lovely busy harbour where you can get boat trips. It also has a couple of tacky bucket and spade type shops that my kids love as well as fish and chip shop and small amusement arcade. There is also a private leisure club with swimming pool. I think you can get daily membership.

The sand dunes at Beadnell were a great hit too. The cottage we were staying with provided sledges to go down the dunes. Just like snow sledging but you dont get wet and cold.

The 2nd hand bookshop in Alnwick is massive. It is housed in the old train station, has a cafe and the childrens section has wheely bugs and other toys to amuse the children.

We stayed in Beadnell with our 5mo DS last Sept and had a wonderful holiday. It is such a beautiful part of the country. I'm really jealous of you heading there!

Alnwick has a good town swimming pool (next to the Sainsburys close to A1) which we went to with DS on a rainy day. It's fairly new so has nice clean family changing rooms, a smaller kids' pool etc.

I would second the Gardens and the book shop.

The beaches are wonderful. Our favourite was Embleton Sands between Low Newton and Dunstanburgh Castle which is great for a long walk or just for pottering around. There is a pub in the square at Low Newton which does nice, simple food (local kippers and crab included). If you have a baby back carrier or can borrow one for your 6mo I would recommend it as the walks along the beach are easy and wonderful.

Bamburgh castle and beach was another favourite. Again we walked from Seahouses along the beach.

Craster to Dunstanburgh is another easy walk, this time along the grassy cliffs/slopes down to the sea rather than beach. Dunstanburgh is a beautiful castle - ruined and very atmospheric.

We did a boat trip round the Farne Islands to see the birds and seals and there were plenty of small children on that.

Good fish and chips in Seahouses - can't remember the name but it was a restaurant right on the corner of the roundabout near the Tourist Info Centre.

Holy Island is worth a trip - although check tide times when you're there for access. The Priory would be fun for your toddler to run around the ruins and the walk out to the castle and visit to the Gertrude Jekyll garden is nice too.

Alnwick Gardens are free for children, only adults have to pay and are great. Adults & children have to pay for castle.

If you do go to alnwick gardens then take waterproofs/wellies/or change of clothes/towels because not going in the water featues proved impossible for my kids.

Cragside and Wallington Hall are nice if you have national trust memebership.

My family are from Warkworth and so I think it's the best castle in the world- proper jumping about ruins and going in dungeons!

If it's pouring and you're desperate the 'lions den' soft play in Alnwick is big and has lots to fill an hour or 2.

All we really do is go to the beach - Alnmouth has a little play ground next to the beach and the deli sells Doddington Dairy ice cream which is a plus.

Sigh.....from Northumberland but live in bloddy Manchester. You have made me very homesick...........

We went to Alnmouth last year with our twin dd who were 2 at the time and had a ball.
Alnwick Gardens is a must, great day out. Just remember to take a change of clothes/towels for the little ones as there is loads of water features for them to splash about.
We also went to Whitehouse Farm which is near Morpeth. Loads of animals for the kids to feed and a barn where they could handle small animals which they loved.
For swimming we used the pool in Amble I think it was called The Granary, really nice place with lovely warm children's pool.
For really good pub grub I would recommend the Cook & Barker at Newton by the Moor we had a great lunch there and although they didn't do a children's menu they were very accommodating.
We loved Northumberland that much that we're heading to Warkworth at the end of June for another week.
Enjoy!

We are going to Bamburgh soon. Starting to go off the idea as everyone says it will be really horrendously windy and cold!

Will it?

I am going next week for three days with my boys 3 and 8, B&B'ing it!

Can't wait, never been!

I'm

ok - all you experts. I tried to book a break a while ago to Northumberland and it never got off the ground. I know I should be packing as we head off to Greece in less than 24 hours!! - but - I just loggged on and saw this. We might want a weekend break in Sept or even Full week Oct half-term. Could anybody recommend accommodation

Criteria - near beach
Cosy - doesnt have to be huge but we like nice sofas and pref a log fire/woodburner
Any suggestions would be great.

P>S> - A HOT TUB WOULD BE LOVELY TOO

look up the armstrong cottages, bamburgh, also st cuthberts cottage, it is literally on the sand in the dunes, bamburgh, and i think it is beachcomber or coastguards cotage, bamburgh. i will be v v vjealous if you book them

(we stayed in green gables or green cottage at armstrong cottages, but sandham and nantucket look nice too)

I would recommend Coastal Retreats

We stayed here
www.seabreezecottages.co.uk/
Right next to a lovely beach.
Really cosy cottage and not too expensive out of season either.
Had a fantastic time.

Oooh, I've walked past there loads of times - looks lovely from the outside and it is very close to the beach. Thanks for the link .